Canon Andrew White, known as the ‘Vicar of Baghdad’, has asked for urgent prayer for the church in Iraq amid intense violence.
With frequent bombings and shootings in cities such as Baghdad and Mosul, monthly death tolls have soared recently. January’s toll of 1,000 dead was the highest for almost six years.
Canon Andrew, a Release partner, who leads St George’s Church, reports that some of his young people have been among those killed. Christian friends are leaving and begging him to leave too.
‘Hundreds of our people have left the church because they have left the country,’ he says. ‘The hundreds left are those who cannot afford to leave, so the poverty and needs seem greater than ever. I honestly cannot tell you how terrible things are. We are in more than a desperate crisis. We need your prayers.’
But he remains resolute. ‘I will not leave my people here, however bad it is. I am not leaving, and neither is God.’
(Sources: Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, BBC) Release Int.
